(2) The Missing
by Dequincyx
Summary: Before, CPS worker Clare Dunning's only focus was keeping Tommy safe from his abusive father. But when Tommy and millions of people around the world vanish without a trace, the only thing on her mind is finding Tommy and getting out of a now chaotic L.A. What happened to the missing? Where did they go? What 'caused them to just disappear? UFOs? Radiation? Or...the Rapture?
1. (1)-Without A Trace

**The**  
**Missing.**

**For this reason, you be ready too...because the Son Of Man will come at an hour you do not expect-(Matthew 24:44)**

**/**

**(1)-Without A Trace.**

**Los Angeles, California-(1995)**

At the L.A. police station, 35-year old CPS worker Clare Dunning sat in a chair in an office in front of a desk the male commissioner was sitting behind, giving her statement to him. She shouldn't have even been here. She should've been at home at the cabin in the forest with Tommy...who would probably be terrified to wake up and find that she was gone. Except Tommy wouldn't wake up and he wouldn't be terrified, because he was gone. And with two hours passed, as well as the time that was passing now...it seemed like he was never coming back. Clare knew that reporting Tommy missing to the police would likely lead to her eventual arrest for kidnapping him...but what did all that matter now?

"I'm just trying to establish if your experience is the same as the others." Said the commissioner.

"Okay. We were at the cabin, both of us-me and Tommy." Said Clare.

"Tommy's your son." Said the commissioner.

"No. I'm his guardien. His Mother died in 1990 when he was 5." Clare lied. She hated lying, especially during a time like this. But she knew that if she had told the truth, the commissioner would've most likely arrested her on the spot. And she knew she would be no help in finding Tommy if she were locked away.

"What about his father?" The commissioner asked.

"He became an abusive drunk after Tommy's mother passed. I have custody of Tommy now. But anyway, back to my story. We were at the cabin in the forest and Tommy had turned in for the night and i had dosed off on the sofa while watching TV. While i was asleep, i had a horrible dream. I dreamt that Tommy and millions of other people around the world had vanished without a trace...and when i woke up...the nightmare had actually come true. And...Tommy was gone." Said Clare as she began telling her story, leaving out the part about Jesus being in her dream and taking Tommy and all of the other millions of people to Heaven.

After all, who was gonna believe that? Certainly not the police. Besides, what was there to believe? That part of the dream was just that and nothing more. It hadn't really happened.

Had it?  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	2. (2)-The Disappearances

**(2)-The Disappearances.**

**Earlier...**

Clare jolted awake after having a horrible dream about Tommy and millions of people around the world disappearing out of their clothes and going to Heaven, and saw that the TV was on, realizing that she had fallen asleep on the sofa in her out-door clothes while watching the news.

The reason she was doing this was to see if the news about her kidnapping Tommy had made it here to Los Angeles. Even though it had been a year since it happened, she knew couldn't let her gaurd down simply because a year had passed with no word from the news concerning Tommy's abduction. Just because there had been no news about it here in L.A. didn't mean that there ever would be. If or when that day came, she would get Tommy and head off to either Canada or Mexico. Except she didn't know if the news had broadcasted her crime, because she had dosed off while watching it.

Clare sighed with relief as she leaned her head back. "It was just a dream." Knowing that the news had gone off for the night, as well as seeing that the TV was playing commercials, Clare got the remote off the sofa beside her and turned off the TV, placed it on the sofa's left arm, and got up from the sofa, deciding the turn in for the night. But first she would check on Tommy and see how he was doing before changing into her sleep-clothes.

She walked out of the livingroom and went up the stairs that led to the door of the attic. Clare walked up to the door and quietly opened it and looked inside the dark room to check on Tommy...only to find that he wasn't in bed.

"Tommy?" Clare called...but there was no response. She then turned on the lights and instantly got her answer as to why Tommy wasn't in bed and hadn't responded to her call. In front of the round window laid Tommy's white short sleeve t-shirt and blue plaid shorts in a pile on the floor. But Tommy was nowhere around. Just like in her dream. "Tommy?" Clare called again. Nothing. "Tommy?" She called once more as she entered into the room. Nothing still.

The 35-year old CPS worker looked around for Tommy, but he was nowhere in sight. She got down on her hands and knees and looked under the bed, hoping to find Tommy hiding under there naked. "Tommy?" She said as she looked under the bed, only to find that there was nothing there.

Clare stood back up. "Tommy?" She called. Still no answer. Clare started to wonder what was going on. This made no sense. Where was Tommy? His sleep-clothes were still here, but his body was gone without a trace. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

Clare ran her hands through her dark brown shoulder-length hair as the worse case scenario began to play in her head. Could someone have broken into the house while she was asleep and kidnapped Tommy? If that was the case, then why were his sleep-clothes still here? Was it possible that his abductor had stripped him naked and then took off with him? No, no, no, that didn't make sense. She was so confused. She really didn't know what to believe at this point. But she knew one thing though: Tommy was missing.

Just then, there was a loud ring from downstairs and Clare rushed out of the room, ran down stairs into the livingroom, and answered the ringing housephone that was resting on a table beside the sofa.

"Hello?" Clare asked.

"Clare?" Came a male voice on the other end of the phone.

"Rayford? Why are you calling here in Los Angeles? Are you in the area?" Clare asked.

"No. Actually, i'm on a flight to London, England that's heading back to Chicago." Said Rayford.

"Heading back to Chicago? Why, what happened?" Clare asked.

"I've got a situation here i don't wanna talk about." Said Rayford.

"Well, so do i. I can't find Tommy, he's missing. And i can't-Wait...how did you know i was here in L.A.?" Said Clare.

"It was just a lucky guess. The Chicago police had been looking everywhere for you and Tommy for six months. They'd been broadcasting news reports about you kidnapping him since the day his Dad reported him missing last year." Said Rayford.

"I figured that. Do the police know where i am?" Said Clare.

"No. And at the moment, i don't think they're even trying to find you anymore. And not just because the case went cold last year. After what's happened, i'm pretty sure you're the last thing on their mind right now." Said Rayford.

"What are you talking about? What's happened?" Clare asked.

"You mentioned that Tommy was missing, right?" Rayford asked.

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with why you called? What's going on?" Clare said.

"You don't wanna know." Said Rayford.

"What do you mean i don't wanna know, of course i wanna know! Tommy has vanished without a trace and i'm scared out of my mind!" Said Clare.

"If you think you're scared now, just wait until you hear what i have to say." Said Rayford.

"What does that mean?" Clare asked.

"You remember how i mentioned earlier that i was on a flight to London, England and had to turn around and head back to Chicago?" Rayford reminded.

"Yeah, what of it?" Clare asked.

"Well...there's a reason we had to turn around." Said Rayford.

"Name it." Clare stated.

"I don't think i should." Rayford said.

"Look, i don't have time to play these guessing-games with you, Ray! Tommy is missing and i-"

"It's not just Tommy." Said Rayford, cutting Clare off.

"What?" Clare asked.

"Tommy's not the only one missing." Said Rayford.

"What do you mean?" Clare asked.

"Some of the passengers and crew members on my plane are...gone." Rayford answered.

"Wait...gone? Gone where?" Clare asked.

"That's just it, i don't know. No one knows. All we know is that the missing passengers and crew members just disappeared, leaving behind their clothes, shoes, socks and everything else that wasn't attached to their bodies." Said Rayford.

"That's almost like what happened to Tommy." Said Clare.

"Did you see him disappear?" Rayford asked.

"No. See, what had happened was i dosed off in the livingroom on the sofa while watching the news. I woke up and went upstairs to the attic bedroom to check on Tommy to see if he was still asleep. But when i got up there, Tommy was gone and all i found were his sleep-clothes lying in a pile on the floor by the round window." Said Clare.

"Clare...are you near the TV now?" Rayford asked.

"Yeah, i'm right here in the livingroom. Why?" Said Clare.

"Turn on the TV." Said Rayford.

"But why-"

"Just turn it on." Said Rayford, cutting Clare off.

"Okay." Said Clare before getting the remote off the left arm of the sofa and turning the TV on, revealing the news on screen with the words **BREAKING NEWS**, followed by two female news anchors. One was black and the other one was white.

"Breaking news happening right now. There appears to be a number of chaotic incidents taking place across the state. Witnesses are calling into the station, as well as notifying the police, that they're seeing vehicles colliding into one another on local streets and interstates. And a bizar thing is...vehicles have no drivers." Said the black female news anchor.

"Jesus." Clare swore before changing the channel, only to see that it was on the Mexican news station, with a male news reporter speaking Spanish. She changed the channel again and the next one was on a news station in Brazil in the day-time, with a female news reporter on screen.

"We are still experiencing aftershocks of the massive earthquake that has devistated this entire region. From what i've been able to desifer, violent costal waters have flooded many of the cities aboard the caribbean sea and the atlantic ocean. We have just been informed to seek shelter to get to the highest alavation to cover ourselves from Flooding Streamers." Said the female news reporter with a Brazilian accent, holding a wireless microphone.

Clare changed the channel to yet another news report coming from Korea, with a female Korean reporter speaking in Korean

"For the benefit of my English-speaking viewers, there seems to be very horrible things going on. No one can explain more. Citizens all over south Korea were here one moment and gone the next. We cannot be sure if this is an alien attack or a terrorist attempt." Said the Korean news reporter in English translation.

Clare changed the channel back to the two news anchor women.

The white anchor woman began to speak. "We've been reporting over the bizar phenomenan that seems to be happening not just here in this country, but all over the world. The government officials of the United States have issued a nation-wide terror alert. And have asked that all Americans..."

Clare couldn't believe what she was hearing. People had disappeared all across the globe? What in the world was going on?

"We now go live in UK London, England with Lance Morison to bring us an update on what is happening." Said the black anchor woman.

A middle-aged man appeared on screen, replacing the two anchor women, reporting live from UK London, England in the daytime. "Thank you, Tia." Said the man with a british accent. "You have been reporting all night there are unexplained events going on seemingly throughout the world. Apparently..."

Clare was still trying to process what she was watching and listening to, but she could not. Because it made no sense. Sure, it was normal for people to disappear everyday, but all over the world in ONE NIGHT? It was un-natural. Did this global vanishing event tie into Tommy's disappearance somehow?

"There are people running from their homes and office-buildings into the streets, screaming in sheer terror that the world as we know it has indeed come to it's end." Said the middle-aged british man known as Lance Morison.

Now Clare was really scared. Even more scared now than she was when she found out that Tommy was missing. Was what this male news reporter saying true? Did this global vanishing act signal the approach of the apocalypse? The end of the world?

"...of epic Bible-related porportions. If this is to be the end...may God have mercy on us all." Said Lance before the two news anchor women appeared back on screen, replacing him.

"That was Lance Morison...reporting from London." Said Tia. "We now go in New York at the UN with several ranking officers from every branch of the military to address the nation." Said Tia.

Clare just looked on at the TV in bewilderment.

"Tia, we, uh, seem to be experiencing a technical glitch." The the white news anchor woman. "Let's go back to Lance Morison in London. Lance? Lance, are you there? Can you hear me?"

Just then, both anchor women disappeared out of their clothes, leaving them behind in their seats and the channel cut to rainbow upward-stripes, with the TV making a long BEEP sound.

Clare dropped the phone to the floor after seeing this. She was shocked by what she had just witnessed. She had just seen two news anchor women disappear out of their clothes on TV. This had to have been recorded during the global disappearances, as both women had been reporting the vanishings taking place.

"Clare? Clare, are you there? Hello? Clare? Clare?" Came the voice of Rayford on the phone.

Clare ran out of the livingroom, got her purse off the dining table, rushed out of the house, got in her station wagon, and drove off through the forest, heading for the city of L.A.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	3. (3)-Tommy's Warning

**(3)-Tommy's Warning.**

The city of Los Angeles was in sheer chaos.

Everywhere she looked as she drove through L.A., Clare could see all of the city's people in uproaring panic over what had happened.

People were rioting, looting, screaming, police were trying to stop them, other people were in a state of panic and screaming for their missing loved ones, and countless vehicles once containing those who were now missing had crashed into other vehicles and buildings.

"Mass hysteria, confusion, shock, panic are the only way to discribe how people are reacting. Everybody is speculating as to tonights events, but no one really knows. Whatever it was, it's happened all over the world. And we who are left don't know if we are the survivors or the victims. In some regions, most people are shocked. Many grieved. And some find the whole thing exciting. Looters having a field day...police too busy with rescue operations to even bother to keep order. Some think it may be a mass kidnapping. UFOs. Whatever it was that really happened, the reality of it all is too big to comprehend." Said a man on the radio.

Clare then changed the station.

"Five people were killed in that mishap. Many people have taken their own lives when they discovered children missing. Adding to the problem of the countless casualties is the confusion of missing doctors, nurses and police officers and other support people that would otherwise be called into service. We talked earlier to a pastor of the suburban church named Dr. Alex Ren. Dr. Ren...what, in your openion, happened approximately two hours ago? What caused this global, chaotic event? I've heard the word Rapture meantioned by some religious leaders. While some, most in fact, disagree. Many say the word is not even found in the Bible. Doctor, if it was in fact the Rapture, what does this mean? And is it meantioned in the Bible?" Said another man on the radio.

"Well...yes, and no. You see, the word "Rapture" is not found in the Bible. Rapture means to be quickly removed or caught up. 1st Thessalonians 4:17 reads "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we forever be with the Lord". You see, Christ promised to return in the clouds and quickly recieve up to himself the dead...and the living in Christ. " Said Dr. Alex on the radio.

"Then why are you still here?" Clare asked the doctor on the radio, even though she knew he couldn't hear her.

"If those who believed in Christ were taken, why, sir, are you still here?" The man asked, as if he had heard Clare's question.

"Yeah, exactly." Said Clare.

"Well, you see, until it happened, i believed that Jesus was the son of God, but not God in the flesh." Dr. Alex explained.

"Whatever the 'cause, it has happened. There's nothing anyone can do now to change..."

Clare then changed the station, cutting the man off from his sentence.

"Somewhere there is an answer. But where? According to government officials, the problem is to restore order. Several top officials in Washington, as well as other free world nations are missing, severely damaging the chains of command. Reports filtering in from China and..."

Clare turned off the radio, cutting the man off from finishing his sentence.

Even in the mist of all this chaos and devistation, all Clare could think about was Tommy...and all the times she had let him down. She had failed to legally get him away from his abusive father...she had lied to him and told him they were going on a road trip, when in fact, they were running away from his father...she had taken him away from his friends...and worst of all...she had failed to protect him from this event that had taken him along with millions of other people around the world.

Clare thought back to the time Tommy had tried to minister to her about Jesus and the End-Times last year when they were at a McDonalds restaurant in Wyoming.  
**####################################################**

**Wyoming-(1994)**

At a McDonalds restaurant, 34-year old Clare and 9-year old Tommy were sitting at a table, with him reading his Bible.

Tommy's long blond neck-length hair was slicked back, he wore a gray short sleeve t-shirt, black adidas pants, and black laceless sneakers and white trims.

"Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour that you think not, the Son Of Man cometh." Said Tommy, reading his Bible. "It'll happen just that quick, Miss Clare. The Bible says "like a thief in the night"."

"Tommy, i believe that God is love. And it really upsets me when people go around scaring everybody with all this Jesus coming in the clouds and apocalypse stuff. That's what i hate about religion. God makes all these illaborate plans to send us all to HeLL." Said Clare.

"Miss Clare...God made a perfect plan that none should perish. He sacrificed his own son to keep you from HeLL." Said Tommy.

"Well, i'm glad it works for you, Tommy." Said Clare.

Tommy got his book-mark out of his Bible and placed the book on the table.

"I don't know. It just seems like...What's that?" Clare said.

"Oh, this is a Tribulation map." Said Tommy before handing the book-mark/map to Clare. "It tells you about all the things that can happen after the Rapture."

"Can i keep this?" Clare asked.

"Sure." Said Tommy before Clare opened the map to look at it.

"I'd kinda like to send this to Irene and see what she thinks about it." Said Clare, even though she knew she couldn't send the map to Irene. She knew if she did, she would risk giving away her and Tommy's location.

"Oh, listen...when i'm finished with this book, you've just gotta read it. It has a really neat paragraph in here." Said Tommy before getting his Bible and turning the pages until he found the page he was looking for. "Here it is. "Others will gather around them in great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. People will be lovers themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive", and a whole list of other things."

"That's sure happening today." Clare admitted.

"Well, the Bible also says that when these things happen, the believer can look for the bless'ed hope and redemption for the Christian draws near." Said Tommy.  
**####################################################**

Lost in her thoughts about Tommy, Clare kept on driving through the chaotic city, heading for the police station to report Tommy's disappearance to the authorities. But something in her gut told her that it would be a waste of time and that they would never find him...or any of the other millions of people who were missing.

She hoped she was wrong.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**

Since last year, Clare had been working to get Tommy away from his abusive drunk of a father, Scott, who had no idea she was with CPS at the time. She had decided to do this in secret, as she didn't wanna put Tommy in anymore danger than he was already in. After months of working undercover, her cover was blown, and she took Tommy and drove all the way from Chicago, Illinois to here in Los Angeles, California, where she had decided to lay low for a while in the forest at her cabin.

However, she and Tommy ended up staying here a lot longer than expected. A year, to be exact. Miraculously, the news about her kidnapping Tommy hadn't reached L.A. news. But if it ever did, she would just pack up, take Tommy, and head off to either Canada or Mexico.

But neither of those trips


	4. (4)-Chaos In LA

**(4)-Chaos In L.A.**

As Clare drove through the chaotic city of L.A., she was listening to the news on the radio, which she had turned back on.

"Millions vanish world-wide without a trace, and thousands die in resulting accidents and suicides. A UFO? Spontanious Combustion? The end of the world? Or the long predicted Rapture of the church? No one knows, but stay tuned to L.A. News as the world searches for answers together." Said a woman on the radio.

Clare changed the station.

"Good afternoon, everyone. We have breaking news from down town L.A. We have several unconfirmed reports that several hundred people have vanished. Yes, that's right, have vanished throughout the city. Very little is known at this moment-"

Clare changed the station, cutting the man on the radio off.

"Again, we interupt this program with this breaking news story. The city is in something of a panic right now. We're getting news right now that massive traffic jams are everywhere. The un-imagenable has happened. Hundreds, perhaps millions of people have disappeared from the face of the Earth, including all children from newborns to 12-year olds." Said another man on the radio.

Clare turned the radio back off, not wanting to hear anymore about the disappearances. Seeing the after-affects of the event was horrible enough. She soon came across an even worser scene at a gas station where countless people were, along with an ambulance. She then stopped her car to see what was going on.

She saw two firemen were tending to a damaged vehicle, with an unconscious man inside...a woman with a baby bundle around her left arm, screaming and looking around the area...two ambulance people, a man and a woman, rush over to a man who was lying on the ground unconscious, wearing a motorcycle helment. Apparently, he had fell off his motorcycle during the disappearances.

"Has anybody seen my gas station attendant." Said a man, holding a blue plaid long sleeve shirt.

Clare saw a pair of blue pants, yellow hiking boots, a blue and white cap, and a window washer lying on the ground. She then noticed a female news reporter walk up to a camera man, holding a wireless microphone in her hand.

"Are you Sonny?" The female news reporter asked.

"Yeah." Said the camera man known as Sonny.

"I'm Jennifer Kross from L.A. News. They sent me out here to help you cover all of this. What all have you gotten so far?" Said the female news reporter known as Jennifer.

"Well, we got the plane crash over there, and, uh, the rescue team firemen are over here working about to get this guy out." Said Sonny.

"Have you interviewed anybody at all?" Jennifer asked.

"No, the gas station attendant over there, uh, said that he saw everything." Said Sonny.

"Okay, let's start with him. Let's get out of the wagon." Said Jennifer as she and Sonny started heading toward the gas station.

Clare turned her attention away from the reporter and the camera man and saw the two ambulance people attending to two women, with one of them being the woman with the baby bundle around her arm. She turned her attention back to the reporter and camera man.

"Excuse me, sir?" Said Jennifer as she and Sonny walked over to the gas station attendant.

"Yes, ma'am?" Said the gas station attendant.

"Can you tell us what's happening out here tonight?" Jennifer asked.

"Am i gonna be on TV?" The gas station attendant asked.

"Probably." Said Jeniffer.

"Well...see, i was coming out of my office, and this truck was headed right towards me. If i hadn't jumped out of the way of the truck..."

Clare turned her attention back to the two ambulance people standing over by the dead body of the man they had been attending to earlier, with the female ambulance woman placing a white sheet over him.

"Ma'am, ma'am!" Said the woman with the bundle around her left arm as she ran up to Jennifer and Sonny.

"Yes?" Said Jennifer.

"My-my baby, she's gone! I heard her crying and-"

"Slow down. What do you mean your baby is gone?" Jennifer asked., cutting the woman off.

"I heard her crying and i turned around and she wasn't there anymore!" Said the woman.

"Somebody stole your baby?" Jennifer asked.

"No, it's like she just disappeared! I don't know what happened! Her clothes are there, but she's not!" Said the woman.

"Babies don't just disappear, ma'am. She's got to be in your car." Said Jennifer.

"I know, but she's not there! I gotta go find her!" Said the woman before running off.

"What is going on?" Jennifer asked.

The rescue firemen and the ambumlance man placed the man the firemen had cut out of the car onto a gerney, who was now on a strecher.

"Okay, okay. Here we go, here we go. Come on, let's him out of here." Said the ambulance man before the two firemen began wheeling the man off to the ambulance.

"Can anyone tell me what happened here tonight?" Jeniffer asked.

"Excuse me." Said a teeange boy as he ran up to Jennifer and the camera man, carrying a white short sleeve t-shirt, blue shorts, and white sneakers with white socks in them.

"Yes, sir." Said Jennifer.

"Okay, see, what happened was my 8-year old brother and i, we were about to walk across the street, and, uh, i looked back to tell him something, and he wasn't there. I don't understand. I can't explain it. His clothes are here, but he's not here." The teeangeboy explained.

"Where'd he go?" Jennifer asked.

"I don't know, ma'am, i can't explain it. I looked back over here, then all these crashes were happening, this plane crashed into the building, and-It's just chaotic everywhere, i can't even explain it. I gotta go find my brother, ma'am." Said the teenageboy before running off.

"This is too strange, i'm getting reports like this from all over the city. There's reports like this everywhere." Said Jennifer, listening to the information she was getting from her ear-piece. "We gotta go live now."

"When do you want me to start?" Sonny asked.

"Count it down." Said Jennifer.

"3...2...1." Said Sonny before he started filming Jennifer.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just recieved compremation from the white house. The president of the United States has just been killed. I repeat, the president of the United States has just been killed. It seems that in a high level cabnent meeting-and i'm getting this as we speak-in a high level cabnent meeting, one of the canidates went on a rampage, shooting everyone in the room, mortally wounding our president. The vice-president has also been shot and has been rushed to the hospital where his condition has been listed as gravely citcicle." Said Jennifer.

The gas station man from earlier, who was still holding the blue and white plaid shirt, was being interviewed by two firemen.

A car then exploded and many of the people screamed and panicked.

The rescue team was pushed people back to safety while two firemen were putting out the burning car with a water-hose.

"What is that? What is going on?" Jennifer asked a male ambulance attendant.

"Please step back!" Said the male ambulance attendant.

The two firemen continued putting out the car with the hose.

"Get that back!" Said the male ambulance attendant to Jennifer and the camera man.

"We just wanna know what is going on! What is happening out here?" Jennifer said.

Unable to witness anymore chaos, Clare drove off, resuming her destination toward the police station.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	5. (5)-Irene's Warning

**(5)-Irene's Warning.**

As Clare drove through the chaotic, rioting, looting city of Los Angeles and looked at all of the chaos that was unfolding around her, her thoughts immediately went to Irene, Raymie and Chloe. She hoped to God that they were all safe and sound, and that wherever Tommy was, he was safe from what was now happening in the world. But when she turned the radio back on, she heard something that would confirm her worst fears that she would probably never see Irene, Raymie...or Tommy ever again.

A woman began to speak on the radio. "I'm reporting from the news station in Chicago where absolute terror has overtaken the entire city. Earlier tonight, hundreds of men, women, teenagers, and from all indications, all children from new-borns to 12-year olds vertually disappeared into thin air. Other than leaving their clothes, shoes, jewelry, eye-glasses and such behind, their bodies are gone without a trace. There are no answers as of yet. Could it be a UFO? Spontanious Combustion? Some are even whispering about this event being the long predicted Rapture of the church."

"Rapture?" Clare asked herself. Irene had talked with her about the Rapture once last year, but she never thought it would actually happen. She even talked with her about the End-Times.  
**####################################################**

**Chicago, Illinois-(1994)**

In the suberban neighborhood of Mount Prospect, Illinois, at Irene's house, Clare and Tommy were in the kitchen, making gingerbread cookies with Irene. Raymie was over at his friend, Ryan Daily's house, playing with him. Chloe, meanwhile, was hanging out at the mall with some of her friends.

Tommy wore an open red plaid hodded shirt with short, white sleeves and the hood being white. He also wore a black t-shirt, blue pants, and black sneakers with white laces and white trims. His bottom lip was busted, but it was in the healing stage, as it wasn't bleeding. Tommy didn't tell anyone, but his Dad had busted his lip last night after coming home drunk again.

"Well, you understand, don't you, that Jesus will come and take his own in the Rapture and-"

"You told me all that." Said Clare, cutting Irene off.

"What happens after the Rapture, Mrs. Steele?" Tommy asked.

"Well, after the Rapture, a world leader will emerge as a hero. He will be very convincing, yet decieving. But people will love him." Irene explained.

"Will he be the beast?" Tommy asked.

"Oh, yes. For the first three-and-a half years, he will appear to be a savior-a hero-miraculously solving world problems. But in the middle of the 7-year Tribulation, the evil becomes apparent in him." Said Irene.

"Well, what about the mark?" Clare asked.

"Open my Bible, honey, to Revelation chapter 13-verse 16." Said Irene.

"Okay. 13:16?" Said Clare as she opened Irene's Bible next to her all the way to Revelation 13:16 and placed her finger by the verse and began reading it. "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave to recieve a mark in their right hand or foreheads and that no man might buy or sell except he that hath the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name". Does that mean people will have to wear the mark?"

"Oh, my, yes. People can't buy food, clothes or...anything." Said Irene.

"Sounds like this mark is gonna be the replacement of money." Said Tommy.

"Sounds like a credit-card to me." Said Clare.

"Well, to a lot of people, it will seem like a new type of credit card. And people will welcome it." Said Irene.

"Well, what about the people who wont wanna take the mark?" Clare asked.

"The only people who won't want the mark are those who become believers. And a lot of those will be killed by the beast or the Anti-Christ." Said Irene.

"You mean a person can become a Christian after the Rapture?" Clare asked.

"The 144'000 missionaries from Israel will be responsible for leading multitudes to recieve Christ as their savior." Said Irene.

"144'000 ministers! Cool!" Said Tommy.

"What happens to the people who take the mark?" Clare asked.

"Uh, look up, uh, Revelation...i believe it's 14-verse 10 or 11." Irene said.

"Okay." Said Clare, turning a page of the Bible and placing her finger on the number of the verse she was looking for. "The same shall drink"-That's not it." She moved her finger down some. "Okay, 11 says "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. And they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast or his image and whosoever recieveth the mark of his name."

"Whoa...that's scary." Said Tommy.

"Yeah. So the time to recieve Jesus Christ is now, not then." Said Irene.

"But whatever happened to God is love that the pastor at my church always talks about?" Clare asked.

"God is love, Clare, but he is also holy. And he hates sin. And he cannot allow sin in his presence or in his kingdom." Said Irene.

"But we all do bad things." Said Clare.

"That's right. And we deserve judgment. But God loves us so much he sent his son, Jesus, to die for our sins as full payment...and offers life eternal for anyone who believes Christ and wants him as their savior." Said Irene.

"Well, i don't know. Maybe someday all this Revelation/Tribulation stuff will make sense." Said Clare.  
**####################################################**

As the radio continued blabing reports reguarding the mass disappearances, Clare remained lost in her thoughts about her times with Irene and Tommy when they both tried to tell her about their beliefs. And each time she had politely turned them down. Boy, did she feel bad about that now.

Clare reached into her purse, got out her cellphone, and called up Irene. "Come on, come on. Pick up, pick up."

"Hey, it's Irene. Leave a message." Said the answering machine.

Clare then ended the call and placed her phone back in her purse and tuned back in to listening to the news on the radio.

One report revealed that in Chicago, at a Christian school, a team of teen football players and many people in the stands had disappeared out of their clothes right in the middle of a game. All of the teen football players had disappeared except for one, who later took his own life.

She heard another report that talked about an increasing number of people jumping to their deaths, shooting themselves, over-dosing, parents of missing children either going mad or taking their own lives, police officers missing, doctors at hospitals missing, all children missing at orphanages, with some of them being teenagers, some social workers and CPS workers missing, countless prison breaks all over the world, looting, home-invasions, rape, murder, theft, and just about every other crime one could imagine.

She even heard reports of all women around the globe who were once pregnant no longer being pregnant, as well as bodies missing from morgues all over the world. She also heard reports about bodies missing from their graves at cemeteries, with the majority of them being of deceased children, leaving the clothes they were buried in behind.

Clare didn't know how much more she could take. First Tommy vanished without a trace...then she learned from Rayford that some of his crew and passengers had disappeared on a plane he was flying to London...then she learned from the news that millions of other people around the world had disappeared...then she discovered that all children under 13 were missing, along with some teenagers...and now she had learned from the radio that even all of the unborn and some of the dead were gone too.

Clare felt like she was starring in the real-life horror movie of human history.

What in the world was going on?

Was this really something that God had pulled off? Or was there something evil and sinister behind these mass disappearances?

Either way...she hoped she was wrong.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	6. (6)-More Bad News

**(6)-More Bad News.**

"And that's how i ended up here. Tommy's disappeared, millions of people around the world have disappeared, and here i am almost completely out of my mind." Said Clare, concluding her story.

"Could he have gone somewhere? Tommy, i mean." Said the commissioner.

"In the middle of the night without telling me? No, he wouldn't do that. I'm telling you, he's missing. I went upstairs to his room to check on him and he was gone. I mean, his sleep-clothes were still there, but he was gone, vanished. " Said Clare.

"Okay...here's what's gonna happen. We're gonna talk to everybody else...and then i'll get back to you. But i want you to know we're doin' the best that we can." Said the commissioner.

A man then opened the door and entered inside. "Come on, ma'am. I'll get you some coffee."

"You're not gonna find him, are you?" Clare asked the commissioner, reffering to Tommy.

"Of course we are." Said the commissioner.

"Come with me." Said the man.

Clare got up from her seat. "He was everything i cared about. He was my life."

"I know." Said the commissioner.

Clare and the man then exited the room and he closed the door behind them. They then noticed that all of the people were glued to the TV that was broadcasting more news about the vanishings.

On screen was an anchor-man sitting behind a desk, discussing the world-wide vanishings.

"This is the kind of ordeal we've been witnessing since just a couple of hours ago. In case you've just joined us, this is CNN's continuous global coverage of what can only be discribed as the greatest disaster or possibly attack in human history. It's uncertain what has brought about the chaotic events we're witnessing. There is still no explaination forth-coming. It seems that all efforts from around the globe are aimed at trying to control and stabilize the situation. Here is what we do know. Less than two hours ago, millions of people literaly vanished off the face of the Earth-leaving behind their clothes, shoes, and other worldly items that weren't attached to their bodies-both from this country and around the world. The situation certainly defies reasonable explainations. Reporter Martin Newton has been collecting information from various sources and files this globle report." Said the anchor-man.

The anchor-man was then replaced with the scenes of millions of people around the world in a state of panic due to the disappearances.

"With the sudden disappearances of millions of people, the entire planet is experiencing fear and confusion." Said the voice of a man.

Clare stood stunned. Even though she already knew that vanishing event had occured all over the world, she still hadn't plugged into any of it, because none of it seemed real to her. She never saw it coming. She never imagined it could be possible. But it did happen. She had seen it with her own eyes. Millions had instantly vanished, yet she and countless others had been left behind. What happened? Where did they go? What happens now?

Clare then tuned back in to the News.

An anchor-woman was now on screen, ready to give her report.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are recieving reports from all around the world that may shed some light on exactly what might have happened. We'll start with videographer, Alan Bren in London." Said the anchor-woman in a british accent.

"The situation here in centural England is absolutely out of control. There are hardly words to discribe it. With reports of tens of thousands of what you would have to call vanishings now reported the impact has been staggering. Here on a highway not far from London, thousands of vehicles suddenly became deadly projectiles when their drivers simply disappeared into thin air." Said the british voice of Alan.

"It's almost impossible to comprehend. In a tiny swiss village, this is the scene of a suddenly un-maned passenger train with more than 60 cars race into a train station at full speed, smashing into the back of another train without warning." Said the voice of another male reporter.

"This aircraft plummited to the ground in a huge fireball an instant after the airport lost contact with the pilot." Said another male reporter.

"This helicopter lost althetude without explanation and crashed into the water below. The pilot's clothes were found, but no body was recovered." Said the voice of another man.

"And citizens around the world are reacting in the only way most people could expect: With total panic. Here in Tokyo, hundreds of people were gathered around this lobby, listening to a top government official. As he spoke, however, he vanished in front of them. No one could've possible known that the same thing had happened in every town, city, state and country on Earth." Said the voice of another man.

"And no matter where you look around the world, it seems that almost everyone has lost someone. And there is total mayham on city streets everywhere as people rush around, trying to find their loved ones." Said the voice of a woman.

"Where the people went, however, is anyone's guess. Nasa and the crew aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia report no sighting from beyond this world. At least none that out instraments can detect." Said the voice of a man.

"On the military front, all haustilities have simply ceased in chaos and confusion. Any military forces that can be spared patrol the boarders of their respective nations, but not one of those nations has any idea who or what they're looking for." Said the voice of another man.

"Looting and rioting are a comman place. And as one New York police chief told us, it's as if cloud of evil suddenly descended upon us tonight. Unfortunately, many of the world's peace officers are being forced to pay the price. Why were they taken? Why were we left behind? For CNN, i'm Janna Sheen." Said the voice of a female news reporter.

"Ronald Sims is standing by in London." Said the anchor-man from earlier. He then turned around to face a huge screen that showed a male news reporter. "Ronald, how are the people in Briton dealing with all this? How are they deal with the disappearance of literaly millions of people? What possible explanations do they have?"

"I have with me professor Thorn from the sociology department of Oxford. He has dedicated his entire life to the study of social eveloution. Professor, what happened today?" Said the reporter known as Ronald with a british accent.

A man standing by Ronald, known as professor Thorn, began to speak in a british accent. "Well, i was able to hear bishop's message a moment ago, and i agree with him. What the Bible spoke about concerning human eveloution has been spoken of by great leaders of all regligions and years gone by. The fact is while this is startling, this is not a suprising event. In fact, this is simply the next step in the social eveloution process."

"Bishop Swilson made meantion of the same thing. But how does this tie in with eveloution?" Ronald asked.

"Look...do you think eveloution was something that happened in a rainforest somewhere a million years ago? Eveloution by it's very nature is an on-going process. This step in eveloution was the final one that humans needed. And what has just occured all over the world was not physical eveloution, it was spiritual. Don't you understand? We are gods." Said professor Thorn.

The man then turned off the TV. "Gods, huh? I thought i was searching for answers."

"What do you make of it? The disappearances, i mean." Clare said.

"You don't wanna know. Come on. Let's get that coffee." Said the man before he and Clare walked off down a hallway.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	7. (7)-Jackie's Warning

**(7)-Jackie's Warning.**

**One Hour Later...**

Clare sat in a chair, thinking about everything that had happened within the last three hours, as well as everything that was happening right now. An hour had passed since she arrived here at the police station, making it three hours since the disappearances. Tommy was still missing...millions of people had disappeared off the face of the Earth...all kinds of chaotic events were sweeping the planet...people were dying left and right. Either by their own hands or someone else's or in accidents that resulted in the vanishings.

What in the world was going on?

People didn't just disappear out of their clothes and shoes.

What happened?

All sorts of theories were swimming around in her head. Such as UFOs...Spontanious Combustian...thermal radiation...and...the Rapture.

She then started thinking about what Jackie had told her last year when she had taken Tommy over to her house for a visit.  
**####################################################**

**Chicago, Illinois-(1994)**

Clare came into the house through the front door, entering into the livingroom, after talking with Irene on her cellphone.

"Hey." Said Jackie, who was sitting on the sofa while Tommy was sitting on the floor beside her.

"Hey, guys." Said Clare.

"Whatcha doin?" Clare as she closed the door.

"Oh, Tommy and i were just chat'n here, we're just talkin' a little bit." Said Jackie.

"Oh. What are yall talkin' about?" Said Clare as she walked over to a sofa-like chair and sat down.

"The Rapture, Miss Jackie was telling me about the Rapture." Said Tommy.

"The Rapture? Really? Jackie, i thought we agreed you were gonna wait until Tommy was older to talk to him about this." Said Clare.

"He just saw the book i was reading and asked me about the word Rapture and-"

"The book? If you wouldn't read those stupid books when he's around, maybe he wouldn't ask so many questions." Said Clare.

"Well, i'm sorry you feel that way, Clare, but this is important. I feel this is very important." Said Jackie.

"I'm really very uncomfortable with this." Said Clare.

"He was just flippin' through the TV and heard a guy say something about the Rapture on TV and...he saw the book, i gotta tell him the truth." Said Jackie.

"Why couldn't you wait, like we agreed?" Clare asked.

"You know...we didn't agree on that. That's something you wanted to do." Said Jackie.

"Well, he already has nightmares. He'll never get to sleep tonight." Said Clare.

"Alright, i'm sorry. I'm sorry, i'm not trying to 'cause you nightmares, and i'm not trying to get you upset, but this is such an important issue. We've gotta face this. And i think we've gotta face it very soon." Said Jackie.  
**####################################################**

"Oh, Jackie." Said Clare sadly while lost in her thoughts about what Jackie had said to her. If this event was indeed the Rapture, then chances were she was gone too. She had to find out. Clare reached into her purse, got out her cellphone, called Jackie, and the phone rang for a few minutes.

"Hi, it's Jackie. Leave a message." Said the answering machine before the #BEEP# sound.

Oh, how Clare wanted to. She wanted more than anything to leave a message for Jackie. But she knew it wouldn't matter, as it was very likely that she was among the missing. She thought about calling Irene to check on her, Raymie and Chloe, but something told her she would just be wasting her time with that too. After all, the disappearances had hit Chicago as well, and chances were Irene was gone too. Raymie would be 12 years old now, and since all children under 13 had disappeared, it was likely he was one of them.

She then decided to call some of the kids she had placed in good homes over the years. Unlike other CPS workers, Clare had stayed in contact with the kids she was placed in charge of. She had been doing this since she started her job in 1980.

Clare dialed a number and waited for someone to pick up. "Come on. Somebody pick up. Pick up!"

"Hello?" Came a female voice on the other end.

"Hello, Emily? It's Clare Dunning."

"Oh. Hi, Clare. Haven't heard from you in a while. What's up?" Said Emily Hudson, the 16-year old daughter of Mister and Mrs. Hudson.

"Is Grady alright?" Clare asked.

"Yeah, he's upstairs in bed. I couldn't sleep, so came downstairs for a midnight snack. Why do you ask?" Emily said.

"Go check him." Said Clare.

"Why?" Emily asked.

"Just do it" Clare instructed.

"Alright." Said Emily.

During the silence on the phone, Clare thought about Grady and if weather he was still at home or not. Grady had been placed in her care in 1993 and was placed in a loving home that same year. He was 10 years old at the time. If Clare's calculations were correct, he would 12 years old now. Meaning he would be gone, just like all the rest of the children under 13. She hated doing this. Calling these families to check on their adopted kids, only to find them gone, leaving behind the clothes they had been wearing. But they were gonna find out about the disappearances eventually. If not tonight, then deffinitly tomorrow morning. So it was better for them to find out now. It wouldn't make it hurt any less, but at least they wouldn't be unprepared like she was.

"He's okay. He's sound asleep in his bed." Said Emily.

"Where are you now?" Clare asked.

"I'm by the doorway of Gray's bedroom." Emily answered.

"Go into his room and see if he's still there." Said Clare.

"Clare, you're scaring me. What's going on?" Emily said.

"JUST..." Clare sighed. "Just check!" She ordered.

"Okay." Said Emily. The moment of silence on the other end of the phone was suspenceful, to say the least. And then..."AH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Emily screamed.

Clare then ended the call, knowing what Emily's screaming meant. Grday was gone...just like all the other children under 13.

She put her cellphone back in her purse, not even bothering to call any of the other families of the adopted children she had placed in their care over the years. She now knew that two kids were missing. Tommy and Grady. She didn't want to add anymore worry to her emotions...if that was even possible.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	8. (8)-The Warning Of The Rapture

**(8)-The Warning Of The Rapture.**

**Two Hours Later...**

Two hours had passed since the disappearances, making it five hours all together...and Clare still hadn't gotten any word on Tommy. She wanted him found. Weather he was alive or dead, she need to know what had become of him. She wanted the police to find him before 24 hours. She knew once all that time had gone by that the chances of a child being found alive or at all were slim to none, so she wanted Tommy found before then...even if he was dead.

Clare then thought about the time she went to a church last year with Tommy called New Hope Village, where pastor Billings talked about the Rapture.  
**####################################################**

**Chicago, Illinois-(1994)**

Clare sat in the congregation with Tommy, Irene and Raymie, listening to pastor Billings talk about the Rapture.

"I'm reading this morning from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, beginning at verse 1. These are the word we find in this passage: "When is all this going to happen? I don't need to say anything more about this, for you know perfectly well that no one knows. The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly as a thief in the night. When people are saying all is well and everything is peaceful and quiet, then all of a sudden, disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as awoman's birth-pains begin, and these people will not be able to get away anywhere. There will be no place to hide." Said Billings.

"Now how can we be sure of all of these things? You'll recall that last week, we talked about some of the spusific prophecies that have to do with The Second Coming the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this morning, i wanna talk to you about some of the signs of the end-times. And one in paticuler, namely, the sign of the Anti-Christ. When the time is right, then the Bible tells us that a great and strong and powerful leader will appear. Now, who will that leader be? Do we have any indication in the scriptures as to who this person will be? Yes, the Bible has an answer for that. The appostle, John, tells us in 1st John these words: "Indeed, many rightly will call him the Anti-Christ."

"The Bible further teaches that this indevidual will be instrumental in bringing about a season of peace in the world. Although his ultimate end will be a revenge against God, he wil be a very evil person". Now, some think that if Christ were to come back 30 years from now that this indevidual could be living at this paticuler moment. And actually, if Christ comes back before 30 years, then it's all together possible that this man is active in government even this very day. I've talked to many of my Christian friends about the Rapture, that moment when Christ will come back to recieve all believers unto himself...and i'm simply amazed at the number of stories of people who have had the experience of thinking that the Rapture had already taken place."

"I'm reminded of a neighbor i had back in Kansas, who got up one night in the middle of the night, took off his pajama tops, and went down stairs for some ice-tea. In the meantime, his wife awakened out of her sleep and discovered that her husband was gone, turned on the lights, found his pajama tops, and was immediately convinced that the Rapture had taken place, and that she had been left behind."

"While from our studies the past few weeks, we can conclued that we're living in now in the end-times. The days in which we live, we are seeing many prophecies being forfilled that we have never seen forfilled before. And surely this serves to remind all of us that the time is short at best. And if we would be followers of Jesus Christ, we must join his band-wagon now."  
**####################################################**

Oh, how Clare wished she had listened. If only she had headed pastor Billing's warning about the Rapture. She wouldn't be here right now. She would be in Heaven with Tommy and Grady. If this event was indeed the Rapture, that is. What was with the "Ifs"? Millions of people had disappeared out of their clothes all over the world, both dead and alive. What more proof did she need? What else was she waiting for to convince her that this was what it was?

She had no idea.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	9. (9)-The Warning Of The Apocalypse

**(9)-The Warning Of The Apocalypse.**

**Three Hours Later...**

Three hours had passed since the disappearances, making it six hours all together, and there was still no word on Tommy. The more time passed, the more worried Clare became that Tommy would never be found. And if it was true that disappearances were somehow Rapture-related, then there was a 100% chance he really would never be found.

Clare thought back to another time she had gone to New Hope Village church with Tommy, Irene and Raymie last year when Billings talked about the Tribulation.  
**####################################################**

**Chicago-(1994)**

Clare, Tommy, Irene and Raymie sat in the congregation as they listened to pastor Billings talk about the Tribulation. Otherwise known as the Apocalypse.

"The day is coming when the believers in Jesus Christ will disappear. After this mysterious disappearance-better known as the Rapture-the great Tribulation will begin. And the people who recieve Jesus Christ during this 7-year Apocalyptic event will find that life is very difficult. The things we take for granted today-such as buying food, and clothes, having a job, having a family life-all of these things will be very difficult during the Tribulation period." Said Billings.

"Don't put off recieving Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. You could wake up some morning or in the middle of the night and find out that the Rapture has taken place. The Bible teaches a great deal about the Tribulation period. It talks about the seven seals and the seven great judgments of God that will be poured out upon this world."

"Let's look for a few moments at these seven seals that will be open during the Tribulation period." Said Billings before turning to a chart of the seven seals on a stand. "The first seal was opened, and a white horse came out, and the rider of the white horse had a bow and a crown on his head". This represents the Ant-Christ coming into the world."

"The second seal was opened, and a red horse came out. The rider of the red horse was given power to take peace from the Earth."

"The third seal was opened, and a black horse came out. And the rider of the black horse had a pair of balances in his hand". He represents a wide-spread famin 'caused by a great drout. Even today we can see signs of our planet drying up. Water levels getting lower and lower in many parts of our country."

"The fourth seal was opened, and a pale horse came out. And the rider of the pale horse was Death. And he was given power to destroy a fourth part of the Earth. By hunger, and by sword, and by beast."

"The fifth seal was opened"...and John wrote "I saw the souls of the Christians believers that were killed during the Tribulation period". These people were killed for keeping God's word."

"And when the sixth seal was opened, there was a great earthquake. The sun turned black". The Bible says the moon became like blood."

"And when the seventh seal was opened, the Bible says that there was a silence for the period of about 30 minutes. This was probably the calm before the storm...because after this silence was over, the seven great judgments of God were poured out upon this world. Well, these are terrible things. And the Bible teaches that these things are actually going to happen. And if you find yourself going through the Tribulation period...it's your fault...not God's."

"For God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The wages of sin is death...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ."  
**####################################################**

Clare sighed as she thought about pastor Billings' warning about the Tribulation. She didn't believe him then either. And if she was right...chances were he was gone too.

Clare then dug into her purse and pulled out the Tribulation map Tommy had given her last year, opened it up, and looked at it's contents. She had voiced to Tommy about sending it to Irene to see what she thought about it, but she knew she couldn't due to her being on the run with Tommy, and she didn't want to involve Irene and her family in this ordeal.

Pushing Irene and her family out of her mind, Clare began to read the Tribulation map...from start to finish.  
**####################################################**

**Please review.**


	10. (10)-Left Behind

**(10)-Left Behind.**

**15 Minutes Later...**

During the next 15 minutes, Clare had spent her time reading the Tribulation map from start to finish. Before the disappearances, she thought it was all science fiction...but now it was like reading today's newspaper, as the first thing it talked about was millions of people, both dead and alive, disappearing around the world, including all children under the age of accountability, which she now knew was 13.

Now that she was done reading the map, she folded it back up and put it back in her purse. Wanting to get more news about the disappearances, Clare got up from her seat, went over to the TV and turned it on, showing the words **L.A. NEWS Special Report** on screen.

"This an L.A. News special report, with Perry Johnson and Diana Solton." Said a male voice.

The words **L.A. NEWS Special Report **were then replaced by the scene of an anchor-man and an anchor-woman sitting behind a desk.

**PERRY JOHNSON.**

"Good evening. Tonight at 10:15 pm centural time, the United States, as well as the entire world, experienced a phenomanon. The disappearance of literely millions of people from all over the world. The disappearances at this time are completely unexplained. What we can tell you is this: Various people from all walks of life have literely vanished before the eyes of many eye-witnesses, leaving clothing, shoes, glasses, and vertually everything not apart of their bodies-stand by." Perry said, placing a hand on the microphone/ear-piece on his right ear. "This just in, it seems that children of various ages to 12 years old are missing? And hospitals are reporting that all, i repeat, all infants are missing? All infants? What is going on? Diana?"

**DIANA SOLTON.**

"We are also recieving confirmed and unconfirmed reports at this time of disappearances throughout the world of many promoment and well known indeviduals. The list at this time includes evangulest Billy Grahm, pastor John Hagee, It's Supernatural Sid Roth, entertainer Amy Grant, coaching great tomlandery and now pro-tackle Reggie White. We repeat, many of these reports are unconfirmed, but as we recieve confirmation, we'll update. Back to you, Perry." Said Diana.

"We now go live to L.A. News reporter, Donna Tyler, a mid-technical difficulties. Are you there, Donna? Can you hear me, Donna?" Said Perry.

The scene then changed to a female news reporter standing on the vehicle wrecked streets of L.A.

**LIVE**

**DONNA TYLER****-L.A., CALIFORNIA**

"Yes, Perry. This is one of just many hundreds of scenes just like this happening all over the city. All over the world, as we understand. Un-maned vehicles, just like this one, containing clo-personal items of clothing, wedding-rings, wallets, shoes, a watch and even a child seat. All positioned as if the occupince literely just disappeared. There is one common factor, however. We've noticed that many of the un-maned vehicles carry a symbol like this one."

"This can't-I just can't believe this, this is unbelieveable. This is the most bizar thing i've ever seen." Said Paul.

"-Found that this symbol has a Christian meaning of some-sorts. Could this symbol hold some answers to millions of disappearances happening all over the world, or is this just a strange coincidence? We have just learned that there will be a meeting tomorrow night at the L.A. community church to discuss these occurances, offer councaling to the families and friends of those who have vanished, and to present a video-tape from their pastor, who is as we understand is also listed among the missing." Said Donna.

"That looks like my wife's car." Said Perry.

"It's probably not." Said Diana.

"Donna, could you have them swing the camera to the back of the car, please? To the license plate." Said Perry.

Donna did as she was told and had the camera-man swing the camera to the back of the car on the license plate, and it's number was **297-L.A.C. **The camera then zoomed into the fish symbol on the back of the car and then the scene cut to a rainbow-colored upward-striped image before going to static.

"Oh, my God. That's my wife's car. That's Carly's car." Said Perry cryingly before he laid his head face-down on his desk and began sobbing.

"Stand by." Came a male voice in the background. "Johnson...Johnson, read your script. John-"

"NO!" A tearful Perry screamed in anger as he looked up. "You people are right. UFOs and involvement of satilite lazers! You're right, these are these speculations, these educated guesses to prove your theories, WHEN ALL ALONG IT WAS A MASTER PLAN! AND WE WERE JUST TOO BLIND AND TOO STUPID TO LISTEN!" Perry screamed before looking into the camera. "Here me, people. The Lord Jesus came back tonight...and we've been left behind." He said before placing his head face-down on the desk.

The channel then cut to a church scene where some people were crying and panicking. Clare could tell that it had been hit by the disappearances, as clothes were on the pews where people were once sitting. She knew that it had been recorded earlier tonight, as that was when the disappearances had happened. She also knew that the event had been recorded when it happened. Boy, what a scary sight that must've been.

"IT'S OVER! WE'VE ALL BEEN LEFT BEHIND!" Screamed a black man on stage, wearing a black choir-robe.

"What do you mean left behind? Where is everybody? What happened?" A black man asked.

A black man in the black choir-robe walked off the stage. "They're gone. They're all gone."

"Where did they go? What's over?" The other black man asked.

"Life...life as we know is over." Said the man in the black choir-robe.

"No. It can't be." Said the other black man.

"What do you mean it can't be?" The black-robed man asked. "Don't you get it man?" He said. "It wasn't just talk. It FINALLY HAPPENED!" He said, placing his hands on the man's shoulders.

"Get yo hands off me!" Said the black man, pushing the black robed man away from him. "There's gotta be somethin' we can do! There's gotta be a way that we can go too!" He reached into his right pants pocket and got out his check-book. "How much?"

"How much what?" The black-robed man asked.

"How much is it gonna take to get me outta here? How much is it gonna take for me to go see my wife?" The man asked.

"A CHECK?!" The black-robed man screamed as he slapped the check-book out of the other man's hands. "A CHECK IS NOT GON GET YOU TO SEE NOBODY!"

The man reached into his left pants pocket and got out some money. "Look, look, look, here's a thousand dollars. That's all i have on me now, but i can open the bank and get more if you need it. Here, take it." He said before handing the black-robed man the wad of cash.

The black-robed man just looked at the guy. "Don't you get it man?" He asked. "You're money IS WORTHLESS NOW!" He said as he tossed the money away.

"What do you mean worthless! I'm Ronnie Kelson! It wasn't worthless when you were havin' all those anniverseries, those special sessions, and askin' for tithes!" Said the black man now known as Ronnie.

The black-robed man laughed. "You're Ronnie Kelson?"

"Yeah." Said Ronnie.

"Don't you get it, Ronnie? YOU CAN'T BUY YOUR WAY INTO HEAVEN! But it's easy to buy yo way into HeLL!" Said the black-robed man before he began sobbing and fell down to his kness and onto the steps.

"You can empty your entire bank-account...but it won't do you a bit of good now. There's no more hope...there's no tomorrow...there's no more chances. They've all...they've all been Raptured. I started preachin' back in Tennessee in 1955...when i was just 20-years old. I pastored three churches...i served right here...right here...in this church for 12 years. I went to semeonary school...and graduated at the top of my class with honors. I got my masters degree...in theoligy...and biblical studies..." Said a gray-haired black man wearing glasses and a black-robe. "just like you son. Just like you." He said to the other black-robed man crying on the steps. "But none of it...means anything now. I'm an old man...and i've been an old fool. All the preachin'...and teachin'...that i've done over the past 40 years...doesn't mean anything now. I pointed people to that cross...but was too ashamed to admit...that i needed to go there for myself. I let position...and title...cloud my judgment...stand in the way of my own salvation. And now i've gotta pay the price." He said. "Oh, Lord, i'm sorry." He said as he bent over. "Forgive me, Lord." He said as he fell to the floor and began crying.

"ALL THESE PEOPLE! ALL THESE PEOPLE!" Ronnie shouted before sitting on a pew, bowing his head.

"I shoulda listened! I shoulda listened!" Said the black-robed man on the stairs, crying.

The gray-haired man stood up on stage. "They use to say...it's more than just preachin'...singin'...paying tithes. It's not about how high you can jump...but how you live...when you come back down. I preached that for many years...but it was just all...empty words. 'CAUSE IF YOU LIVE! LIKE THE DEVIL! THEN HELL! IS WHERE YOU WANNA GO!"

"HeLL?!" Said Ronnie as he stood up from the pew. "No way, i aint goin' to HeLL!" He said as he walked up to the stage. "Pastor, you gotta do somethin'! I'm Ronnie Kelson! I've got too much money to go to HeLL! I've put more money in this church than half this congregation! I've paid my tithes! No, i aint goin'. I aint goin'."

The black-robed man stood up from the stairs.

"I cain't go! I cain't go!" Ronnie said. "I CAIN'T GO TO HEEEEEEEEEEEEELL!" He screamed, snatching the black-robed man up by the collar of his robe.

"GET OFF ME!" The black-robed man said as he pushed Ronnie off of him and onto the pew he was sitting on earlier.

"IT'S OVER! IT'S TOO LATE! IT'S TOO LATE! IT'S TOO LATE!"

"I caint go!" Said Ronnie as the black-robed man fell to the floor on his hands and knees.

"IT'S OVER! It's over." Said the black-robed man.

Clare turned off the TV, having seen enough, and decided to call it a day and leave, exiting the building and getting into her station wagon. It had been seven hours since the disappearances and there was still no update on Tommy. As Clare had suspected during her drive here, she had wasted her time coming to the police station. They weren't going to find Tommy...or any of the other millions of missing people. They were all gone off the face of the Earth. Vanished without a trace. Where they went, however, was anyone's guess. There were all kinds of theories out there. Some people were saying it was aliens, others were saying it was eveloution, nuclear radiation, spontanious combustion, the Rapture, ect.

As Clare dug into her purse, searching for her keys, she came across a piece of paper that was rolled up, with a gold ribbon tide around it. She took the rolled up paper our of her purse, unrolled the paper and looked at it for a few seconds. She then rolled it back up and placed it back in her purse, got her keys out, put the head key in the ignition, starting the vehicle, and drove off, heading back for her cabin in the forest to hang up the house-phone, turn the TV off, pack up her and Tommy's stuff, and head back to the city of Chicago.

A city that would in time forget Tommy.

Clare could just imagine how Tommy's Dad, Scott, would react when he found out that his son had disappeared. He would most likely play the grieving father until the press's attention was off of him. Very few people knew the kind of monster he was to Tommy after his Mom had passed away.

As Clare drove through the chaotic city of L.A., all she could think about was the rolled up paper she had found in her purse...and how it was a letter from Tommy and what his last words to her were: "Thank you...for being my friend."

While driving through the rioting/looting/panicking city of L.A., Clare tuned in to the radio news.

"In the aftermath of the disappearances-"

Clare changed the station, cutting the woman off.

"Millions were taken in the vanishings." Said a man on the radio

Clare changed the station again.

"From the United States, Canada, and as far as we know, all across the globe. All under the same circumstances. Reports of The Missing continue to tricle in." Said a woman on the radio.

Clare changed the station once more, and another man began to speak.

"And while the world morns their missing adult/teen loved ones, all parents are left with only one question: "Where are our children?"  
**####################################################**

**Mark 13:32-33**

**But of that day or hour knoweth no man. No, not the angels in Heaven, or the son, but the father only. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.**

**Revelation 22:12**

**Look, i am coming soon! My reward is with me, and i will give to each person according to what they have done.**

**Matthew 7:21**

**Not everyone who says to me "Lord, Lord" will enter the kingdom of Heaven. But only the one who does the will of my father who is in Heaven.**

**Revelation 22:13**

**I am the Alpha and the Omega..the first and the last...the beginning...and**

**THE END.**  
**####################################################**

**Next Time...The Remaining.**


End file.
